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Gmail From Ice Cream Sandwich Works on the Motorola XOOM

A fine friend of ours pointed out over the weekend that the new Gmail app from the Ice Cream Sandwich dump that MDW leaked actually works fairly well on the Motorola XOOM (there is a chance it works on other tablets too). It offers up a slightly tweaked UI over the current Honeycomb Gmail with more polish, gives you attachment previews in a bigger and bolder way, lets you back up offline data for 30 days (or however many days you set), and even lets you quickly swipe between messages. This new Gmail app, when finally released for everyone, is going to be fantastic.

*Note – I was only able to get this to work if I rooted, backed up my old Gmail app, and then replaced it with this one. Feel free to try and install right over the top, but if it doesn’t work, then you will need to root and use the instructions below.

Instructions:

1. Download the file from above onto your SD card.
2. Using Root Explorer, copy the file and then head into /system/app.
3. Press the “Mount R/W” button.
4. Find Gmail.apk, long press on it and rename to “Gmail.apk.bak” or something similar.
5. Now, hit the “Paste” button to paste your new Gmail.apk.
6. Once pasted, tap on it to install it.
7. When it finishes, you may need to change the permissions to (long press choose “Permissions”:

8. Then press the “Mount R/O” button and enjoy your new Gmail.
9. You may need to reboot.

If you have a different tablet that the XOOM, be sure to let us know if this works. Already hearing that it will work on the Asus Transformer.

Has anyone tried this on a phone, preferably a Galaxy Nexus? I’d like to know whether this split-screen view works on the higher-resolution phones too.

Dblejay

Awesome, worked flawlessly on my rooted Xoom. Thanks!

http://twitter.com/NooRotic NooRotic

Was able to get it working once I was able to rename the system/app .apk. On a rooted Xoom, tiamat 2.2. Runs silky smooth. I just don’t understand why people hate on the Xoom so much, yeah once I got it rooted and OCed to 1.6Ghz it runs great.

Hey Verizon: take your thumb out of your butt and give a October release date for the Galaxy Nexus, so Google can release the code to ICS!@@!!!

Jason Lee

Yeah, it’s not working on my Galaxy Tab 10.1. Even with my Overcome Custom ROM.

Anonymous

No go on my 10.1 also… I have stock rooted KME

Parrothead

Has anyone been able to get the Music.apk from ICS working on the Xoom, I was able to get it to open, sync, and everything. But once I click on an album, it force closes, hell it’ll even play music if you select a sub-menu of an artist, without actually opening the artist. Weirdest damn thing…. Tried everything too, permissions, clear data, etc.

Keith Sumner

This looks like it was meant only for tablets, how would this work on a phone?

Anonymous

So, where is the rest of the leak? That page takes me to a thread about getting upgrades working again.

PS, this makes my ICS XOOM Theme even better. Thanks!

Spencer

No go on Gtab 10.1… get a parse error

http://twitter.com/praticuschaotic Jon Doe

Has anyone tried this on the HP TouchDroid yet?

Joe

Anybody try it on the G-Tab 10.1??

http://twitter.com/Aleis Jayrock

Has the new ICS browser been leaked?
If so can someone point me to it…?

http://www.facebook.com/people/Kane-Stapler/597191406 Kane Stapler

Don’t think it will work for anything not running ICS since it uses some of the new features like the swiping away of tabs. I could be completely wrong though.

http://www.twitter.com/nblufire12 Nathan Patel

looks like ICS really is for tablets and smartphones huzzah google

http://twitter.com/komradefox andrew fox

this looks exactly like Offline Gmail for desktops (or laptops)

Anonymous

Is this only for tablets?

Anonymous

At this point yes.

Anonymous

Tablets or phones running ice cream sandwich 8)

Anonymous

Has anyone tried it on a phone?

http://twitter.com/daniel_ohh Daniel Ogilvie

Been using it on my Transformer too!

Anonymous

Updated post.

Anonymous

I suppose this makes one reason to own the XOOM . . .

Kixofmyg0t

Other than having a unlockable bootloader like everyones favorite “ZOMG TEH NFC!” Galaxy Nexus?

Oh wait, I forgot the Galaxy Nexus unlockable bootloader is much better because its a unlockable bootloader right?

Anonymous

OK, sorry: there are now two reasons to own the XOOM. And about 50 to not own it.

Kixofmyg0t

Let me guess, 48 of them are “Its not a Galaxy Nexus”. 49 is “it doesnt have NFC” and 50 most likely is “Omfg Pentile! MotoFAIL AT LIFE” for some reason.

How about not running to bash a perfectly good tablet that paved the way for Ice Cream Sandwich in the first place hmm?

Oh wait nvm, its not a Galaxy Nexus.

Anonymous

Come on. We all know the screen on the XOOM is crap. It’s not an IPS LCD like the Transformer, much less a PLS like the GTab 10.1, still less a sAMOLED like the GNex.

Kixofmyg0t

I thought you would say that.

The screen is just fine for me, and after my entire team compared video and images on my Xoom to my team leaders iPad(which everyone still says is better than the Transformer and Galaxy Tab 10.1) none of us can tell a difference between the two. All the “ghosting” and so called “washed out” colors the “know it all” tech sites talk about? Yep didnt see it. They must have got bad units….or me and my wife somehow ended up with frankenstien Super AMOLED Xoom’s.

The display on the Xoom is underrated period.

http://twitter.com/humancyborg Human Cyborg

lol.

Tucker Nebel

This comment is about as lame as your mom was in bed last night…

Anonymous

Then why’d you pay her full price?

Ryan57ford

Because she didn’t have change for a five

Anonymous

Nice. +1.

Anonymous

Oh my god you really just called your mom a prostitute -_- just sit down, you should be ashamed. Damned failure.

Anonymous

When you get out of 8th grade, you kind of stop caring what anonymous internet trolls think of your mother.

On a related note, yo’ mama’s so fat when Obi wan Kenobi met her he said, “That’s no moon; it’s yo’ mamma!”

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